> Hi folks,
>
> The other day I ran a simple ship to ship, pirates vs. navy
> swashbuckling sort of affair using the new HQ rules. I found
that
> typically, a player is going to stick to their top 2 or 3 skills
> throughout the contest, which while realistic on some levels,
> also meant some important, "just a couple points shy" skills got
> left out...reducing the action to mere color, and almost devolving
> into "I go, you go" syndrome.
>
> For example, we had a naval captain with Sword fighting 3W,
> Agile 17, Seamanship 17, Pirate Tactics 20, and a pirate with
> Sword Fighting 2W, Strong 19, Intimidate 1W, etc.
>
> Basically, it turned into a swordfight, with different abilities
> serving as augments as best, depending on the actual action.
>
> It was actually harder to succeed, pulling out nifty tactics like
> getting the mast to swing into your foes, dropping the sail on
> them, etc, etc, that usually occur in action movies, and make
> things cool.
>
> So here's my simple house rule for that. If you undertake any
> action that makes tactical sense or is especially cinematically
> appropriate during an extended contest, you can receive a +5 to
> +10 bonus for that roll only.
>
> For example,
> "I want to swing the mast into the group of pirates!",
> "Ok, Seamanship +10!"
> "I'm going to yell, 'hit the deck!' so my men avoid it, and it
swings
> instead into his guys!"
> "Ok, Command Pirates +5!"
> "Can I get Intimidate as an augment?"
> "Yeah, makes sense!"
> Etc.
>
Who has "Defend vs Swinging Mast" skill? Or "Attack: Masts" for that
matter. Probably none of them so they are going to improvise them
anyway, so you can get the same effect via the improvises, -5 to the
originator and -10 to the target etc. Or if they have no appropriate
skill then push them all the way down to 14 default resistance.
Adding values can cause Mastery changes which can have unfortunate
results.
Of course a "Dodge" skill would be quite useful, so you wouldnt
swing masts at people with Dodge skills... but you have to do it
once to find out.
However I do agree, my players rarely stray from their highest skill
rating, despite my efforts at dropping hints. And consequently dont
improve the secondary skills as much. I suppose I should start
making custom bad guys with strange and bizarre skills to point the
feature out to them...Old Jake the Pirate attacks your foot suddenly
with his PegLeg whilst his Parrot "Pieces of Eight" cries "You wont
expect this one ya land lubber!" to distract you...
Actually that raises another question, combining more than one
action or different types of actions, using separate skills... do
people use this? Multiple skill rolls?